Politics
The political brawl over ‘woke’ is about everything and nothing
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Addressing the Liberal Party convention in Ottawa last week, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau invoked some of the criticism his government has gotten lately from the Conservative opposition.
“They either say investing in Canadians is a waste of money or that our policies are too woke,” he said. “Too woke?”
He continued, directing his gaze at the TV camera perched on a riser in the middle of the room: “Hey, Pierre Poilievre. It’s time for you to wake up.”
The crowd in the convention hall cheered as Trudeau listed a series of policies that were, in his telling, merely good and sensible.
Those Liberals may have been pleased to hear their leader pushing back against this line of attack. And Trudeau might be happy to have this fight.
But grappling with the pejorative use of the word “woke” at this point could be like trying to box a shadow. Because whatever it originally meant, woke has become a way to say something without saying anything.
According to new survey data from Pollara, 57 per cent of Canadians claim to have at least a general idea of what woke means. But less than 27 per cent of all Canadians say they could explain the term to someone else (Pollara deliberately did not offer a definition to survey respondents when it conducted the poll). And it stands to reason that, even in that group, there are different definitions in use.
(Dan Arnold, Pollara’s chief strategy officer, was director of research for the Trudeau government from 2015 to 2021.)
The term originated among Black Americans decades ago and came to mean being socially and politically conscious of injustices. It has gradually slipped into the mainstream over the last 20 years, carried along in part by the Black Lives Matter protests that originated in the United States.
At present, the Merriam-Webster dictionary describes woke as an adjective that means “aware of and actively attentive to important societal facts and issues (especially issues of racial and social justice).”
But the word also became part of America’s culture wars in recent years, its meaning turned around to mock those seen as excessively or performatively committed to advocating for equality or other social causes.
Eventually, that backlash spread north. Former Conservative leader Erin O’Toole used the term during a video call with young Conservatives in 2020 when discussing a plan to rename the former Ryerson University because of its namesake’s association with residential schools.
Since succeeding O’Toole as leader, Poilievre has embraced the word even more enthusiastically, while stretching its meaning even further.
The many, many things that are ‘woke’
In an email to supporters last June, Poilievre said the Liberal government’s “obsession with woke culture” had made university campuses inhospitable to those with differing viewpoints.
Subsequent messages from Poilievre and his party have used “woke” in the context of Bill C-11, legislation that will apply Canadian content regulations to major Internet platforms (Conservatives say it will be used to “censor” Canadians). Other Conservative messages have broadly invoked the Trudeau government’s supposedly “radical woke agenda.”
In the House of Commons, Poilievre has used the word to describe the CRTC, mayors whose housing policies he opposes, and a culture that allegedly is driving people away from military service. On Thursday, Poilievre said Trudeau’s woke “ideology” explained the government’s changes to the passport.
More common sense, less woke nonsense. <br><br>Let’s <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/BringItHome?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#BringItHome</a> <a href=”https://t.co/Rrm1hzcjCS”>pic.twitter.com/Rrm1hzcjCS</a>
—@PierrePoilievre
In his remarks at the Liberal convention, Trudeau mentioned a few examples of policies and actions that he seemed to think Poilievre might find too woke: a gender-balanced cabinet, reducing poverty, expanding access to affordable child care.
“Let me tell you something — $10-a-day child care is not woke policy. It’s economic policy,” he said.
But Poilievre didn’t mention any of those things in a video he posted to Twitter the next morning. Instead, after referring to Trudeau’s “woke ways,” the Conservative leader listed a series of concerns: the Liberal government’s latest gun control measures and the decriminalization of simple drug possession in British Columbia, pricing carbon emissions and the prime minister going on vacation, an increase in spending on the public service and the recent public service strike.
It’s possible Poilievre was trying to suggest these examples somehow showed hypocrisy on Trudeau’s part. But it’s fair to say the legendary blues singer Lead Belly probably didn’t have any of those things in mind when he told Black Americans to “stay woke” in 1938.
In Poilievre’s interpretation, woke serves as little more than a catch-all term for whatever conservative politicians and commentators happen to oppose at the moment — much the way “socialism” used to be wielded as a weapon against progressive proposals.
How Canadians feel about woke (and other words)
But even if his own definition isn’t clear — and even if most people couldn’t tell you what woke means — Poilievre might still be speaking to a receptive audience.
According to Pollara, 31 per cent of Canadians who have at least heard the word think woke is “usually” a “bad thing,” while 16 per cent think it’s usually a “good thing.”
Among Conservative voters, the split is even more stark — just five per cent say woke is good, while 57 per cent say it’s bad. Bloc Quebecois voters feel similarly, with seven per cent saying good and 50 per cent saying bad.
Liberal and NDP voters are much more inclined to view “woke” as a good thing — 31 per cent of Liberal supporters and 36 per cent of NDP voters like the word. But even those parties must contend with voters who think there’s something “bad” about being woke — 14 per cent among Liberals, 13 per cent among New Democrats.
The woke wants to delete Mother’s Day.<br><br>This ugly and weird ideology—which Trudeau endorsed at his party convention—wants to delete everything except the state which would control everything and everyone.<a href=”https://t.co/cW1Ts50eqm”>https://t.co/cW1Ts50eqm</a>
—@PierrePoilievre
Nationally, just 25 per cent of Canadians consider themselves woke, including only 14 per cent of Quebecers — which might explain why Trudeau decided to defend himself against Poilievre’s attacks last week.
But while many Canadians understand woke to be a bad thing, they maintain a positive view of other words associated with social justice causes. According to Pollara, “Black Lives Matter” had a net good/bad rating of plus-35, while pride flags were plus-34. Feminism, #MeToo, allyship and affirmative action were plus-30, plus-28, plus-26 and plus-21, respectively.
Canadians seem to suspect that there’s something different about being woke even as they broadly support the sorts of causes that, once upon a time, would have been associated with wokeness.
How Poilievre defines woke
During debate on C-11 in late March, Liberal MP Jenica Atwin asked Poilievre how he would define “woke.”
“Woke has one purpose and only one purpose. It has plenty of pretexts but only one purpose: control,” Poilievre responded. “It is designed to divide people by race, gender, ethnicity, religion, vaccine status and any other way one can divide people into groups. Why? It is because then one can justify having a government to control all those groups.”
Poilievre’s references to race and gender might seem to point back to woke’s official definition and the backlash to it. But other than the apparent reference to vaccine mandates, Poilievre didn’t link his definition to any specific federal policies.
And it’s not obvious how this definition would line up with the examples that the Conservative leader cited in his video response to Trudeau’s speech. (Poilievre’s office did not respond to an email seeking further explanation.)
Many federal policies take into account race, gender or ethnicity. The Liberal government has promised to address systemic discrimination in the justice system. Statistics Canada has been provided with funding to improve its gathering of disaggregated data on race, gender and sexual orientation. A dedicated fund has been created to support Black entrepreneurs. Trudeau’s office has also prioritized diversity in federal appointments. Federal budgets are now subject to gender-based analysis.
Are any of those policies too woke? What exactly is woke about the Trudeau government and how precisely would a Poilievre government be different?
In the absence of actual specifics, the word isn’t much more than a schoolyard taunt. And if there is a fight to be had here, the first step would seem to be getting those who use the word to explain exactly what they think it means.
Canada called for “all parties” to de-escalate rising tensions in the Mideast following an apparent Israeli drone attack against Iran overnight.
G7 foreign ministers, including Canada’s, and the High Representative for the European Union released a public statement Friday morning. The statement condemned Iran’s “direct and unprecedented attack” on April 13, which saw Western allies intercept more than 100 bomb-carrying drones headed towards Israel, the G7 countries said.
Prior to the Iranian attack, a previous airstrike, widely blamed on Israel, destroyed Iran’s consulate in Syria, killing 12 people including two elite Iranian generals.
“I join my G7 colleagues in urging all parties to work to prevent further escalation,” wrote Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly in a post on X Friday.
More details to come.
Politics
Politics Briefing: Labour leader targets Poilievre, calls him 'anti-worker politician' – The Globe and Mail
Hello,
Pierre Poilievre is a fraud when it comes to empowering workers, says the president of Canada’s largest labour organization.
Bea Bruske, president of the Canadian Labour Congress, targeted the federal Conservative Leader in a speech in Ottawa today as members of the labour movement met to develop a strategic approach to the next federal election, scheduled for October, 2025.
“Whatever he claims today, Mr. Poilievre has a consistent 20-year record as an anti-worker politician,” said Bruske, whose congress represents more than three million workers.
She rhetorically asked whether the former federal cabinet minister has ever walked a picket line, or supported laws to strengthen workers’ voices.
“Mr. Poilievre sure is fighting hard to get himself power, but he’s never fought for worker power,” she said.
“We must do everything in our power to expose Pierre Poilievre as the fraud that he is.”
The Conservative Leader, whose party is running ahead of its rivals in public-opinion polls, has declared himself a champion of “the common people,” and been courting the working class as he works to build support.
Mr. Poilievre’s office today pushed back on the arguments against him.
Sebastian Skamski, media-operations director, said Mr. Poilievre, unlike other federal leaders, is connecting with workers.
In a statement, Skamski said NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh has sold out working Canadians by co-operating with the federal Liberal government, whose policies have created challenges for Canadian workers with punishing taxes and inflation.
“Pierre Poilievre is the one listening and speaking to workers on shop floors and in union halls from coast to coast to coast,” said Mr. Skamski.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mr. Singh are scheduled to speak to the gathering today. Mr. Poilievre was not invited to speak.
Asked during a post-speech news conference about the Conservative Leader’s absence, Bruske said the gathering is focused on worker issues, and Poilievre’s record as an MP and in government shows he has voted against rights, benefits and wage increases for workers.
“We want to make inroads with politicians that will consistently stand up for workers, and consistently engage with us,” she said.
This is the daily Politics Briefing newsletter, written by Ian Bailey. It is available exclusively to our digital subscribers. If you’re reading this on the web, subscribers can sign up for the Politics newsletter and more than 20 others on our newsletter signup page. Have any feedback? Let us know what you think.
TODAY’S HEADLINES
Pierre Poilievre’s top adviser not yet contacted in Lobbying Commissioner probe: The federal Lobbying Commissioner has yet to be in touch with Jenni Byrne as the watchdog probes allegations of inappropriate lobbying by staff working both in Byrne’s firm and a second one operating out of her office.
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TODAY’S POLITICAL QUOTES
“Sometimes you’re in a situation. You just can’t win. You say one thing. You get one community upset. You say another. You get another community upset.” – Ontario Premier Doug Ford, at a news conference in Oakville today, commenting on the Ontario legislature Speaker banning the wearing in the House of the traditional keffiyeh scarf. Ford opposes the ban, but it was upheld after the news conference in the provincial legislature.
“No, I plan to be a candidate in the next election under Prime Minister Trudeau’s leadership. I’m very happy. I’m excited about that. I’m focused on the responsibilities he gave me. It’s a big job. I’m enjoying it and I’m optimistic that our team and the Prime Minister will make the case to Canadians as to why we should be re-elected.” – Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc, before Question Period today, on whether he is interested in the federal Liberal leadership, and succeeding Justin Trudeau as prime minister.
THIS AND THAT
Today in the Commons: Projected Order of Business at the House of Commons, April. 18, accessible here.
Deputy Prime Minister’s Day: Private meetings in Burlington, Ont., then Chrystia Freeland toured a manufacturing facility, discussed the federal budget and took media questions. Freeland then travelled to Washington, D.C., for spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank Group. Freeland also attended a meeting of the Five Eyes Finance Ministers hosted by U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, and held a Canada-Ukraine working dinner on mobilizing Russian assets in support of Ukraine.
Ministers on the Road: Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly is on the Italian island of Capri for the G7 foreign ministers’ meeting. Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge, in the Quebec town of Farnham, made an economic announcement, then held a brief discussion with agricultural workers and took media questions. Privy Council President Harjit Sajjan made a federal budget announcement in the Ontario city of Welland. Families Minister Jenna Sudds made an economic announcement in the Ontario city of Belleville.
Commons Committee Highlights: Treasury Board President Anita Anand appeared before the public-accounts committee on the auditor-general’s report on the ArriveCan app, and Karen Hogan, Auditor-General of Canada, later appeared on government spending. Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Gary Anandasangaree appears before the status-of-women committee on the Red Dress Alert. Competition Bureau Commissioner Matthew Boswell and Yves Giroux, the Parliamentary Budget Officer, appeared before the finance committee on Bill C-59. Former Prince Edward Island premier Robert Ghiz, now the president and chief executive officer of the Canadian Telecommunications Association, is among the witnesses appearing before the human-resources committee on Bill C-58, An act to amend the Canada Labour Code. Caroline Maynard, Canada’s Information Commissioner, appears before the access-to-information committee on government spending. Michel Patenaude, chief inspector at the Sûreté du Québec, appeared before the public-safety committee on car thefts in Canada.
In Ottawa: Governor-General Mary Simon presented the Governor-General’s Literary Awards during a ceremony at Rideau Hall, and, in the evening, was scheduled to speak at the 2024 Indspire Awards to honour Indigenous professionals and youth.
PRIME MINISTER’S DAY
Justin Trudeau met with Ottawa Mayor Mark Sutcliffe at city hall. Sutcliffe later said it was the first time a sitting prime minister has visited city hall for a meeting with the mayor. Later, Trudeau delivered remarks to a Canada council meeting of the Canadian Labour Congress.
LEADERS
Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet held a media scrum at the House of Commons ahead of Question Period.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre attends a party fundraising event at a private residence in Mississauga.
Green Party Leader Elizabeth May attended the House of Commons.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, in Ottawa, met with Saskatchewan’s NDP Leader, Carla Beck, and, later, Ken Price, the chief of the K’ómoks First Nation,. In the afternoon, he delivered a speech to a Canadian Labour Congress Canadian council meeting.
THE DECIBEL
On today’s edition of The Globe and Mail podcast, Sanjay Ruparelia, an associate professor at Toronto Metropolitan University and Jarislowsky Democracy Chair, explains why India’s elections matter for democracy – and the balance of power for the rest of the world. The Decibel is here.
PUBLIC OPINION
Declining trust in federal and provincial governments: A new survey finds a growing proportion of Canadians do not trust the federal or provincial governments to make decisions on health care, climate change, the economy and immigration.
OPINION
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The RCMP raid the home of ArriveCan contractor as Parliament scolds
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Got a news tip that you’d like us to look into? E-mail us at tips@globeandmail.com. Need to share documents securely? Reach out via SecureDrop.
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